How many industries will let you sample their products for a while before you decide if you want to buy more? You’re not likely to get a loaner sweater for a week before you commit to buying it. Ladies – and gentlemen of certain persuasions – let us consider, for a moment, free beauty product samples. The best things in life are free, after all.
There are millions of these tiny tubes (and pots, and jars, and atomizers) out there just waiting to be tried! Yet some of us are awash in drawers full of samples, while others shell out their hard-earned cash for full-sized products without the benefit of first trying samples.
Let me show you the way.
Online:
You can often get samples if you order online (Beauty.com, Sephora.com, and many Etsy sellers will send you freebies). On a related note, you can also score discounted high-end beauty products from sales on thefairest.com and occasionally Gilt Groupe, and you can check the discussion boards on makeupalley.com for more tips on sales and freebies.
In person:
I have the best luck scoring lots of samples at a store like Sephora, rather than a department store, and forget getting samples of anything at a drugstore.
So here are my time-tested tips for getting free samples at Sephora:
- Sign up to be a Beauty Insider. It’s free, and you rack up points and when you hit a certain amount, they give you free samples.
- Compliment the Sales Associate (SA). One time I told a SA that I really loved her lipstick, and she threw like 20 samples in my bag, unasked.
- Put a lot of fancy, high end items in your shopping basket. You can put them back on the shelf before you check out, but this makes you look like you’re a big spender. Then…
- When a SA asks if you need help, or have any questions, say yes. Ask about whatever product you’re interested in, and then say something like “I don’t know, I want to try it first before I commit to it… Do you have any samples?”
- Sephora SAs can – and will! – make samples of any perfume. They’ll decant/spritz some into a tiny atomizer for you. Just ask them if they can make you a sample of whatever it is you’re sniffing.
Another store that is great for giving lots of product samples is Kiehl’s. Lush will often give you samples too, if you just ask if they have any.
I’m sure there are other stores that are generous with the freebies, so if you know of any, post away in the comments.
Editor’s Note: Free samples are perfect for adding to your Office Survival Kit. They also make a sweet addition to gift wrapping–just slide a sample under the ribbon with the card.
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Another strategy that’s worked for me at Sephora is to say that I’m having a bad/stressful day — then the samples flow freely.